all posts contain spoilers unless stated otherwise.

Scream Finale: “Halloween / Halloween II” Review

When I first heard a Halloween special might be a possibility I was excited and relieved. Season 2 ended with a lot of questions and it’s no secret that the ratings weren’t as high for season 2 as they were for season 1 (not that the ratings were very high to begin with anyway). There was a lot of speculation going around that the show might not be renewed so the rumours of a Halloween special gave me hope that even if we didn’t get a season 3, at least we might get some answers to unanswered questions.

Here’s the thing. We don’t get all the answers, but we are getting a season 3! It’s only going to be six episodes long, but it’s something at least. I hope that they plan for a good ending because if they end with lots of questions and it gets cancelled I won’t be happy. I feel like season 3 would be perfect to close up some story lines and maybe hint at future ones in case they get renewed.

Either way the special was entertaining. It was around two hours long and I can only assume that it was meant to be two one hour episodes that they just decided to put together. I’m glad they did, it was much more fun to watch it all in one go.

We get to see our group (Emma, Audrey, Brooke, Stavo and Noah) as they go to an island to do some research for Noah and Stavo’s next graphic novel. However, it turns out they’ve just upgraded murder town for murder island. In the 1930s a set of mysterious of murders took place and it seems like someone is back to kill again.

One thing that that seemed to fluctuate for me was the atmosphere. I think they did a great job, but some times it wasn’t quite as good as usual and other times it was much better. I thought the mask for the island killer was creepy, I thought certain scenes were unsettling, but other times I felt like it could have been done slightly better, but overall none of these things really bothered me because it was still an entertaining special and it was definitely suitable for this spooky time of year!

There were a lot of the interactions between characters. I will admit I’m a huge Brooke and Audrey shipper, but I don’t have my hopes up that something will actually happen with them (in a romantic sense that is!), but it’s nice to see my favourites interact either way. There were scenes with Audrey, Brooke, and Emma at some docks which showed just how close the three are and how well they get on, especially after everything. It was great to see that Brooke didn’t blame Audrey for anything (knowing about Jake being dead, etc). And it wasn’t just that trios relationships that got some kind of spot light.

The things mentioned so far are things that Scream is very good at. Making you question who did it and showing us various relationships. If you’re a fan of the Scream TV series I definitely think you’ll enjoy this little Halloween special.

WARNING: Spoilers Below

Talking about relationships, there’s clearly a lot that’s gone on during the 8 months or so since the events of season 2. Stavo and Brooke are clearly going through some things, Audrey has a new girlfriend, Stavo and Noah are working together, and the list goes on. Out of the group all of them seem to have some kind of interaction with every single person in the group no matter how small. I hope that’s building to something like saying “hey! look at all these possible relationships we can explore and that you’ll get to see in the next season!”

One surprise for me was in the beginning with Kieran in the holding cell. Now I didn’t expect him to survive for very long especially after the mysterious phone call he got at the end of season 2, but I didn’t expect him to die so quickly. Not only that, but his, and the guard’s death were quite brutal (and pretty awesome, not gonna lie!)

But Kieran’s death begs the question, who did it? At the moment the biggest contenders seem to be Emma’s dad, Kevin, and Brandon James. These two because their scenes come right at the end despite not having been in the entire episode. The former looks down on Kieran’s grave with an almost smirk. That could easily be because Kieran is finally dead, but could it also mean he was the one to do it? Brandon James, also seemingly returned to Lake Wood at the end. We know he most likely survived his wounds so he could still be creeping around, and if the man at the end is definitely him then it seems like he’s back for real.

The question I have is wouldn’t Brandon James be recognisable, so what precautions has he taken? It’s not bizarre that he would kill Kieran for using his mask, but also for going after Emma, who I’m sure Brandon James feels something towards after everything. And if he’s not the killer, and neither is Kevin, then who is?

I will say, I’m glad that Tom Martin (known to us for the most part as Alex) wasn’t Kieran’s killer. Although it seemed obvious that he wouldn’t be, I was worried for a moment they would go that way. We didn’t know him before the special so it wouldn’t have had the right impact. Talking about Tom as a killer, I did think his reasoning for doing what he did and going after Emma seemed a bit weak. I could get behind it and I’ve watched movies and shows that give a lot less, but it almost felt like it wasn’t enough and it felt rushed a little. I can’t really fault it though because they’ve basically done in 2 hours what they’re used to doing over an entire season.

2 thoughts on “Scream Finale: “Halloween / Halloween II” Review”

I completely agree with you. and I’m also getting fed up with how they’ve written Emma. Why have they written her a someone who trusted a stranger so quickly after everything she’s been through, and when she literally says in the episode that she has trouble trusting new people? After everything they’ve been through I was shocked that Emma didn’t work out soon enough who the killer was. I really did enjoy this episode, especially as it was so much like the traditional slasher movies. Thanks for the review!

I agree. I loved her “I’m Emma Duval and I don’t need you” speech was really good and I can partly forgive them because they did have a short space of time, however, it would have been more in character if she was constantly unsure or if it was someone that she already knew (it didn’t necessarily have to be someone the audience knows). It was very stupid that she hadn’t figured it out, but they did manage to get that classic slasher feel. Aw, thank you so much for commenting!